Soyuz 22
Encyclopedia
Soyuz 22 was 1976 Soviet manned spaceflight. It was an earth-sciences mission using a modified Soyuz spacecraft
, and was also, some observers speculated, a mission to observe NATO exercises near Norway
.
The spacecraft was a refurbished Soyuz that had served as a backup for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
(ASTP) mission the previous year.
Cosmonauts Valery Bykovsky and Vladimir Aksyonov
spent a week in orbit photographing the surface of the Earth with a specially-built camera.
space station
was at the standard 51.8° inclination, which led some observers to conclude that this solo Soyuz mission was chiefly intended to observe NATO's Exercise Teamwork, taking place in Norway, well above 51° latitude and therefore outside of good visual range of the space station. However, the particular camera used, an MKF-6 multi-spectral Carl Zeiss
camera which allowed six simultaneous photographs to be taken, suggested to others that reconnaissance, if part of the mission, was a minor part of it. Soyuz 22's orbital inclination maximized ground coverage, especially of the former East Germany. There were two orbit changes within 24 hours of launch. The first came on the fourth orbit and changed the orbit to 280 by. The second, on the sixteenth orbit, circularized the orbit to 257 by.
The mission's stated objectives were to "check and improve scientific and technical methods and means of studying geological features of the Earth's surface in the interests of the national economies of the Soviet Union
and the German Democratic Republic
."
The vehicle was the modified ASTP
back-up ship. The ASTP docking mechanism was replaced with an East-German-built Carl Zeiss-Jena multi-spectral camera. One cosmonaut would control the operations of the camera from inside the Orbital Module while the second changed the orientation from the Descent Module. The camera had six lenses, four visible light and two infrared
, which imaged a preselected 165 km (102.5 mi) -wide strip of the Earth's surface. This allowed over 500000 square kilometre to be imaged in 10 minutes.
The first test images from the camera were of Baikal-Amur railway that was being constructed. On the third day of the mission the crew took photographs of Siberia
to the Sea of Okhotsk
in the morning and the northwestern USSR.
On the fourth day, the crew imaged the Moon
rising and setting to investigate the Earth's atmosphere. This also allowed them to see how clean their spacecraft's windows were. They also imaged Central Asia, Kazakhstan
, and Siberia, with attention to geological formations and agricultural effects.
The fifth day focused on Azerbaijan
, the southern Urals, the Baikal-Amur railway again, and western Siberia. At the same time a second camera was being flown on an aircraft over the same areas in order to compare the images.
The sixth day saw images of Siberia, the Northern USSR, and European USSR which were, according to TASS, areas that had never before been "targets of space photography."
The last full day had the crew focus on East Germany, where an An-30 aircraft was flying carrying an identical camera to the one aboard Soyuz 22. They also re-photographed Central Asia, Kazhakstan, eastern Siberia, and the southwestern USSR in order to compare images with those taken earlier in the mission. One of the tasks the crew undertook was to dismantle the camera in order to remove its color filters needed to calibrate the images back on Earth. The task took them several hours to complete.
The crew also performed several biological experiments. They ran a small centrifuge
in the orbital module to see how plants grew in artificial gravity. They also investigated the effects of cosmic rays on human vision. This effect had first been reported by Apollo
astronauts who described bright flashes when they closed their eyes. This was due to cosmic rays passing through the eye. Soyuz 22 also carried a small aquarium so that the crew could watch the behavior of fish.
At the end of the mission, the crew took the film cassettes and other items they were returning to Earth and stowed them in the descent module. The retrofire, re-entry, and landing were took place without incident on 23 September.
The crew had photographed 30 geographic areas in 2,400 photographs. None of the cassettes were found to be faulty and all the images were of good quality. The results, it was said, would aid experts in the fields of agriculture
, cartography
, mineralogy
, and hydrology
.
Soyuz spacecraft
Soyuz , Union) is a series of spacecraft initially designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau in the 1960s, and still in service today...
, and was also, some observers speculated, a mission to observe NATO exercises near Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
The spacecraft was a refurbished Soyuz that had served as a backup for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
-Backup crew:-Crew notes:Jack Swigert had originally been assigned as the command module pilot for the ASTP prime crew, but prior to the official announcement he was removed as punishment for his involvement in the Apollo 15 postage stamp scandal.-Soyuz crew:...
(ASTP) mission the previous year.
Cosmonauts Valery Bykovsky and Vladimir Aksyonov
Vladimir Aksyonov
Vladimir Viktorovich Aksyonov is a Soviet cosmonaut, married with two children....
spent a week in orbit photographing the surface of the Earth with a specially-built camera.
Crew
Backup crew
Reserve crew
Mission highlights
Soyuz 22 was launched to orbit 15 September 1976 at the unusually high inclination of 64.75°, not used since the Voskhod program. The orbiting Salyut 5Salyut 5
Salyut 5 , also known as OPS-3, was a Soviet space station. Launched in 1976 as part of the Salyut programme, it was the third and last Almaz space station to be launched for the Soviet military. Two Soyuz missions visited the station, each manned by two cosmonauts...
space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
was at the standard 51.8° inclination, which led some observers to conclude that this solo Soyuz mission was chiefly intended to observe NATO's Exercise Teamwork, taking place in Norway, well above 51° latitude and therefore outside of good visual range of the space station. However, the particular camera used, an MKF-6 multi-spectral Carl Zeiss
Jenoptik
Jenoptik is an optoelectronics group located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany and a descendant of the pre-war Zeiss company. The business is divided into five divisions: Optical Systems, Lasers & Material Processing, Industrial Metrology, Traffic Solutions and Defense & Civil Systems.- Company profile...
camera which allowed six simultaneous photographs to be taken, suggested to others that reconnaissance, if part of the mission, was a minor part of it. Soyuz 22's orbital inclination maximized ground coverage, especially of the former East Germany. There were two orbit changes within 24 hours of launch. The first came on the fourth orbit and changed the orbit to 280 by. The second, on the sixteenth orbit, circularized the orbit to 257 by.
The mission's stated objectives were to "check and improve scientific and technical methods and means of studying geological features of the Earth's surface in the interests of the national economies of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
."
The vehicle was the modified ASTP
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
-Backup crew:-Crew notes:Jack Swigert had originally been assigned as the command module pilot for the ASTP prime crew, but prior to the official announcement he was removed as punishment for his involvement in the Apollo 15 postage stamp scandal.-Soyuz crew:...
back-up ship. The ASTP docking mechanism was replaced with an East-German-built Carl Zeiss-Jena multi-spectral camera. One cosmonaut would control the operations of the camera from inside the Orbital Module while the second changed the orientation from the Descent Module. The camera had six lenses, four visible light and two infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
, which imaged a preselected 165 km (102.5 mi) -wide strip of the Earth's surface. This allowed over 500000 square kilometre to be imaged in 10 minutes.
The first test images from the camera were of Baikal-Amur railway that was being constructed. On the third day of the mission the crew took photographs of Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
to the Sea of Okhotsk
Sea of Okhotsk
The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and...
in the morning and the northwestern USSR.
On the fourth day, the crew imaged the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
rising and setting to investigate the Earth's atmosphere. This also allowed them to see how clean their spacecraft's windows were. They also imaged Central Asia, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, and Siberia, with attention to geological formations and agricultural effects.
The fifth day focused on Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, the southern Urals, the Baikal-Amur railway again, and western Siberia. At the same time a second camera was being flown on an aircraft over the same areas in order to compare the images.
The sixth day saw images of Siberia, the Northern USSR, and European USSR which were, according to TASS, areas that had never before been "targets of space photography."
The last full day had the crew focus on East Germany, where an An-30 aircraft was flying carrying an identical camera to the one aboard Soyuz 22. They also re-photographed Central Asia, Kazhakstan, eastern Siberia, and the southwestern USSR in order to compare images with those taken earlier in the mission. One of the tasks the crew undertook was to dismantle the camera in order to remove its color filters needed to calibrate the images back on Earth. The task took them several hours to complete.
The crew also performed several biological experiments. They ran a small centrifuge
Centrifuge
A centrifuge is a piece of equipment, generally driven by an electric motor , that puts an object in rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis...
in the orbital module to see how plants grew in artificial gravity. They also investigated the effects of cosmic rays on human vision. This effect had first been reported by Apollo
Project Apollo
The Apollo program was the spaceflight effort carried out by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration , that landed the first humans on Earth's Moon. Conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Apollo began in earnest after President John F...
astronauts who described bright flashes when they closed their eyes. This was due to cosmic rays passing through the eye. Soyuz 22 also carried a small aquarium so that the crew could watch the behavior of fish.
At the end of the mission, the crew took the film cassettes and other items they were returning to Earth and stowed them in the descent module. The retrofire, re-entry, and landing were took place without incident on 23 September.
The crew had photographed 30 geographic areas in 2,400 photographs. None of the cassettes were found to be faulty and all the images were of good quality. The results, it was said, would aid experts in the fields of agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
, mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
, and hydrology
Hydrology
Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability...
.
Mission parameters
- Mass: 6510 kg (14,352.1 lb)
- Perigee: 185 km (115 mi)
- Apogee: 296 km (183.9 mi)
- Inclination: 64.8°
- Period: 89.3 min